Downsize: Living Large in a Small House

With the current trend toward de-cluttering and downsizing, there are plenty of books about how to winnow down possessions to the few that are truly necessary and loved. This book shows how you can live well once that’s done.

In “Downsize: Living Large in a Small House” (2019), author Sheri Koones focuses on practical ways to live well at home once you’ve streamlined your belongings and are living more compactly.

“It scares people to think of moving into a smaller space, but every single person I interviewed who has made the transition says they are so happy they did. Time and again, people used the word ‘liberated’ to describe their move to a smaller space, with homes requiring far less time and money to maintain.”

Sheri Koones

“It’s not just empty nesters anymore,” she adds. “Younger people too are in couples where they’re both working, they’re having children later, they want to be active and they don’t want to be doing maintenance on the weekends. They don’t want to be tied down to mowing lawns and doing all the other chores that come with living in a big house.”

Living more sustainably and saving on energy costs is also part of the attraction of downsizing. For example, using building materials that are low maintenance, including a standing-seam aluminum roof, locally harvested and manufactured Shou Sugi Ban wood, and spruce ship-lap siding can help save costs and be eco friendly. Koones also details specific types of natural fire and pest resistant siding (like shou sugi ban), roofs (like standing-seam metal roofs), flooring (concrete) and heating systems that are more energy-efficient and low-maintenance. “The key is to have a home that is efficiently designed, both in terms of energy use and in terms of space,” she says.

“I refer to it as ‘downsizing,’ but a better word for it might be ‘right-sizing.’ For most of history, houses were more modestly proportioned, and we lived quite comfortably in those smaller homes. Over time houses got too big. Now the trend is heading toward smaller again.”

Does rightsizing sound about right for you?